Prodigal
by WhoGivesaFck
Summary: The Volturi attack was imminent according to Alice. The Cullens are at wits end trying to formulate a defense. Isabella Swan suddenly appears in Edward's life for the first time since 1931, and turns the Cullens lives upside down. AU


Summary : The Volturi attack was imminent according to Alice. The Cullens are at wits end trying to formulate a defense with the help of their vampire friends. When Isabella Swan suddenly appears in the Cullen's home in Forks, will they be able to prevail against a common threat?

Disclaimer: Stepehnie Meyer owns Twilight.

* * *

The elk stood grazing lazily on the grassy knoll, unknowingly about to become a meal. Its predator being wholly unexpected in the forest covered mountain ranges surrounding the Olympic Peninsula in Northern Washington State. The predator wasn't a coyote or wolf, but something much more dangerous and deadly. It was a vampire.

Edward Cullen was hungry – no, that was the wrong word – Edward was thirsty. His throat burned something terrible, like a circus fire breather whose trick went horribly wrong; his throat was on fire with only one way to put out the insatiable and wild flame – blood. He needed blood. The elk, though not his favourite, would have to do.

The strong yet lithe frame of Edward Cullen all but flew towards his prey. The elk's neck quickly and noiselessly broken, before being ripped open by beautiful, straight white teeth that were much sharper than they appeared. Edward drank and drained the elk quickly. The burning throb lessening.

_There you are, son._

Edward didn't turn. He knew to whom those thoughts belonged. Carlisle Cullen – his father for all intents and purposes; his creator for others.

He didn't answer him, but instead swiftly disposed of the animal before he turned to face him.

Carlisle was tall, young and blond. In spite of Edward's darker hair, they looked remarkably similar. Both were incredibly pale, much younger than their years, and had the most interesting eyes. They weren't brown as was common amongst humans, but they weren't red either, which was the norm for vampires. Instead their eyes were a golden amber colour that was unnatural for any hominid like species. It was the product of their diet that caused the strange eyes. Their vegetarian lifestyle was uncommon for vampires, most vampires drank strictly human blood to satiate their thirst, and even Edward had, at one point in his one hundred years of existence, drank from humans, but a compassionate nature and disgust of the monster within lead to this change. Carlisle had never fed from a human.

_Alice called. She said a few more friends will be arriving this afternoon. _Carlisle often spoke to Edward internally.

"Good," was Edward's only response.

These were not the only visitors that had arrived that week, or even that month. Currently there were four covens of vampires staying with them or at least in the same area. Not all of them were vegetarians. There was only one other coven that abided by their dietary standards. They were from Denali, and composed of four female vampires and one male. Tanya, Irena, Carmen, Kate and Eleazar were more to the Cullens than a coven. They were family. The Cullens considered them as their cousins. The feelings were reciprocated for the most part.

Tanya, a beautiful strawberry blonde, had expressed interest in Edward as a potential mate. Edward did not return the sentiment. She, however, remained insistent. Needless to say, he spent much of his time avoiding her. He wasn't interested. He never would be.

Now, though, the Denali's and their other visitors were more than friends, they were their allies.

_I know you are worried, Edward. As am I. _Carlisle was looking at him, his eyes soft, his thoughts reassuring. _There is still time. Alice saw. We will figure out a way to keep our family together._

Edward gave a sharp nod, but otherwise remained silent.

Carlisle was right. He was worried. His family was in danger. Carlisle – his father, Esme – his mother, and his four siblings. How could he not worry?

The Volturi were the rulers of the vampire world. They were thousands of years old and lived in Volterra. Their rules were law. Once they were broken you were dead. There was no alternative.

That was a lie.

There was one alternative. Join their guard in Volterra and do their bidding. This alternative, however, was only offered to the gifted of the vampire race.

Edward was gifted. He could read the minds of every vampire or human, with one notable exception. Alice, his sister, could see the future. Jasper, his brother and Alice's mate, was an empath.

And unless you counted brute strength and tenacity as a gift, Emmett and Rosalie did not possess any special talents. In spite of the tense relationship between Rosalie and Edward, he loved his sister. He didn't want anything to happen to either of them.

The Volturi coveted these gifts. They would all make excellent members of the guard, and help to keep order in the vampire world.

Therein lied the problem. The Cullens had broken their laws. And it was unacceptable.

Even though Carlisle had spent many years in his past with the Volturi in Italy, and was highly respected by them all, he and his family were not going to be granted a reprieve.

"Will we though?" Edward mused, more than asked.

Even the friends that had shown up to counter the imminent attack by the Volturi, were hesitant to help. How were they to be certain that none of them would flee when they needed them?

Edward had no faith in them.

It would be too easy for the others to abandon them. There were no real ties between them all. What did it matter if the Cullens ceased to exist?

No. It was best that they figure out how to protect the family themselves.

_Of course_. Carlisle approached him, cautiously, as though frightened he would bolt. "To quote you," his father quirked a half smile, "never bet against Alice."

A wry and rare smile graced Edward's lips. It was true. He never bet against Alice. Not when he so easily read her thoughts and saw her visions – no, he knew, somewhere inside of him, that Alice was right. They would make it out somehow. It was the absence of the how that troubled him so.

The attack was to happen on the summer solstice. Alice's visions were very accurate. So far nothing had occurred that had altered the date, time or location.

There _was _still time. But was it enough?

Jasper had been a major in the Confederate Army when he was human. He was well versed in strategy and offense. Even after his change, he was a soldier. He had been in charge for many years of training a newborn vampire army. It wasn't his proudest accomplishment, but his past was proving to be useful. Jasper was training the Cullens and their visitors on vampiric fighting, and the best way to utilise their collective strength and powers.

Even after years of play fighting with his brothers, Edward was impressed with Jasper's abilities. He was truly remarkable.

Jasper seemed intuitively know which attack his opponent was most likely to make. It helped that he could evaluate their emotional response, but his ability to gage what attack they would make based on their emotions gave him an extra edge. Even Edward with his mind reading capabilities wasn't up to par with Jasper.

It wasn't that Edward couldn't be ruthless. He had been. In his rebellious youth he had unleashed the monster within him, and hunted freely, so he knew what he was capable of. He just needed to fine tune his skills.

"We should wait at the house for our _friends_," Edward said. He was thankful for the help, but he remained wary of having so many non-vegetarians in their home.

Already the physical appearance of the Cullens in the small town of Forks was noticeable to the town's human population. Add to that, the fact that the Cullens rarely interacted with anyone outside their family. Now they had to worry about other covens calling attention to themselves.

The vampires who stuck to the traditional diet were asked to leave the town for their hunting purposes. Currently that is where everyone was – out hunting. They fed nearly daily right now. They wanted to keep their strength up for their training. The more blood they ingested the stronger they were.

He shivered in disgust at the thought. The number of human lives that were being lost in order to help the Cullens out was getting high.

_Necessary_, he told himself. It was necessary. But the small voice in the back of his mind reminded him of his past actions. He had once been like the others. Red eyed and blood thirsty. Even though it had been many decades he still felt the guilt gnawing at him.

Carlisle nodded. And together they turned toward their house. They were still several miles away, and as they ran swiftly through the trees Carlisle kept his mind clear. Edward was grateful for the continued pardon of thoughts that usually clouded his mind.

They were the first of the family to arrive back at the house. Yet, as they neared the treeline at the back of their property, Edward realized that the house was not empty.

He stopped abruptly. Confused. Vaguely he heard the soft rustle of grass behind him as the familiar scent of the other members of his family caught up to them.

Intrigued and hopeful, Carlisle continued to the house. His wife Esme floating to his side as she matched him, stride for stride.

It seemed like their newest guest had arrived early.

Esme's thoughts turned quickly to ways to make their guests comfortable. She was always the hospitable one.

Edward looked at Alice. She was small, almost child-like in stature, but he knew she was fierce; he expected to see a knowing look on her face. Instead it was filled with confusion. Evidently she did not know who was in their home.

Alice shrugged to his unasked question. _I don't see anything bad happening._ With that she grabbed Jasper's hand and tugged him toward the house.

Edward knew his sister wasn't infallible. But she had been keeping an extra eye open in light of future events. Her second sight was based on the decisions people made, so the person currently in their house must have unconsciously decided to show up.

_Or something more sinister, _he thought displeased.

But all that changed in an instant.

Edward smelled her first. Then he saw her in Carlisle's mind as he stepped into the house.

Brunette. Pale. Perfect.

If his heart were still capable of beating it would have stopped. Even though breathing was unnecessary to him, his breath hitched. His stone skin tingled.

Later Edward wouldn't remember taking that first step towards the house, but suddenly there he was crossing the threshold.

In hindsight, it may not have been the ideal meeting, but as his legs carried him straight into the kitchen were she was perched on the counter in the same way that she was placed on the pedestal in his mind, he didn't care.

He heard Carlisle breathe as though in relief. _We're saved_. "Isabella."

Edward moved right in front of her. He ignored the surprised thoughts of his family and friends. They didn't matter. She looked at him, and smiled softly, as her eyes that were much too dark for his liking, shone brightly with an emotion he knew was reflected in his own. Her mind, as always, was silent to him. He didn't greet her. He didn't return her smile. Instead, he grabbed her face lightly, and performed the act he should have done more than 80 years prior.

He kissed her.

He wasn't going to lose her this time.

_Isabella Swan_, he let her name float across his mind.


End file.
